There was no denying who ruled the Northwest Parks and Recreation Association's Men's Senior Softball League this summer.

The Birmingham Jets, whose home field is at Kenning Park, captured both the 2018 regular-season and postseason 55-over tournament championships. The league's other teams represent the Waterford, West Bloomfield, Rochester, Lake Orion, Clarkston and Oxford areas.

The Jets took the regular-season crown with a 20-4 overall record. On Aug. 8, the Birmingham squad completed its three-game sweep of the two-game elimination playoff tournament.

In winning each crown, Birmingham defeated the Waterford representative. Birmingham was the NWPRA's runner-up last season.

"It was a very good year for the Jets," said team member Jack Burns, a Birmingham resident who helps keep the stats. "It was totally a team effort and these guys were pumped.

"And I'll tell you what — this was an interesting team," he said. "I'd say almost half of them probably still work — and they're all still over 55. It's a network team. They're not all just Birmingham residents.

"A friend has a friend and he wants to play. A friend has a friend and he wants to play. And over the past two years now, this friend of a friend thing has jelled together as a team. And, oh man, these guys play good ball.

"The good part about these guys is that there aren't any prima donnas," he added. "If we lose, it's not because one of them wasn't there. I think the total roster is 16 or 17 and we have to play 11. So if 13 show up and two are sitting on the bench half of the game, there is never a problem."